Implement for piercing ear lobes



July 9, 1957 A. s. SAMUELS IMPLEMENT FOR PIERCING EAR LOBES Filed Oct. 15, 1953 INVENTOR. ALBERT 5. SAMUELS IMPLEMENT FOR PIERCING EAR LOBES Albert S. Samuels, San Francisco, Calif. Application November 13, 1953, Serial No. 391,951 6 Claims. (Cl. 128-330) This invention relates to the piercing of ear lobes to enable a person to wear earrings or ornaments that are fastened by passing directly through the ear lobe and pertains particularly to an im lement for accomplishing the piercing operation in a simple and effective manner.

Many conventional ear ornaments comprise a mounted gem or other ornamental piece with a small threaded spindle to extend through the pierced lobe and a retaining nut which threads onto the spindle behind the lobe. It has been customary in piercing ears to pass a sharp instrument through the lobe and then thread a surgical suture or other obstructing member through the opening so formed to prevent healing or closing thereof. This is a time consuming and often painful process and I have found it preferable to form a point at the end of the spindle of an ornament to be worn then pierce the lobe with the spindle itself, apply the nut, and allow the ornament to remain in place.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an implement with means to securely hold the spindle of an ear ornament and to support a block or backing memher and with means for applying pressure to cause the spindle to pierce an ear lobe and enter the backing member.

Further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention and the manner in which it is carried into practice are made apparent in the following specification wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawing showing one form which the invention may assume.

In the drawings:

'Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an implement for piercing ear lobes embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a central sectional view through the same implement;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III--III of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through a pierced ear lobe showing an ornament in place therein.

The drawing shows the device of the present invention in the form of a pincer-like implement made of a pair of crossed elements pivoted together as by a pin 10. This forms a pair of handle parts 11 and 12 and a corresponding pair of gripping or jaw parts 13 and 14. Both of the crossed elements are pressed metal forms so that they are generally U-shaped in cross-section throughout the major part of their length to provide strength and lightness as is customary in other tools of this general type.

The jaw part 13 carries a vise for holding an ear ornament which comprises a gem 16 and a threaded spindle 17, the end of which has been formed to a point for the piercing operation. The opposite jaw 14 carries a block 18 of cork or other relatively soft material as illustrated in Fig. 2 and, as shown in Fig. 1, the jaw 14 is formed with a pair of tines 19 upon which the block 18 is impaled to facilitate its ready removal and replacement. The block 18 preferably has a small slit or opening indicated in dotted lines at 20 in Fig. 2 to permit the easy entrance of the spindle 17 thereinto.

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- of the vise which extends beyond the end of the jaw 13 has a resilient tendency to spread or separate to admit the spindle 17. An opening 22 near the inner end of the split portion of the Vise aids in producing the desired resiliency. When the member 15 is drawn inwardly relative to the jaw, the bifurcated portions of its end move inwardly with relation to each other and conversely they spread apart due to their resiliency when the member 15 is advanced outwardly with respect to the jaw. For convenient operation of the vise member, a rod 23 has a bent end 24 extending into a suitable opening in the vise. member 15 and extends rearwardly through a guide tube 25 with its rearmost end projecting into an opening .or.

socket in a block 26 which is secured to the handle part 11 by any suitable means such as screws indicated at 27. The tube 25 is secured against endwise or longitudinal movement by a cross member 28 at its forward end which is staked or otherwise secured as shown to the side walls 21 of the jaw part 13. The rear end of the rod 23 is threaded and a knurled nut or actuating member 29 is threadedly mounted thereon.

In operation, the pointed spindle of the ear ornament with which the lobe is to be pierced is placed between the jaws of the vise 15 in the position illustrated in Fig. 2 and the nut 29 is turned in a direction to engage the end of the tube 25, thus drawing the rod 23 rearwardly and causing the vise to clamp the spindle 17 securely. Upon turning the nut 29 in the opposite direction, it will engage the block 26 to advance the rod 23 forwardly for opening or releasing the vise.

With the backing member 18 in place on the jaw 14 and the ear ornament held in the vise as illustrated in Fig. 2, it is simply necessary to hold the implement with the member 18 behind the ear lobe and to compress the handle parts 11 and 12 so that the spindle l7 pierces the lobe and enters the block 18. Then upon releasing the vise by manipulating the actuating nut 29, the ear ornament may be left in place and the block 18 may be removed either before or after withdrawing the tines 19 therefrom. It is then merely necessary to place upon the spindle 17 the nut which retains the ornament in place so that the ornament assumes the position illustrated in Fig. 4. In this figure the ear lobe is shown at 32 and the nut is shown at 33 as a small ornamental wing nut that may be readily removed and replaced by the wearer after the ornament has been worn a sufiicient length of time to prevent healing or closing of the pierced opening.

The spindle of the ornament is customarily made of gold or other precious metal that does not tend to corrode nor create infection and may be coated with an antiseptic material before use. Since handling of the ear lobe is reduced to a minimum at the time of piercing, the implement of the present invention is effective to perform its intended function efficiently and with little or no discomfort.

I claim:

1. An implement for piercing ear lobes which com prises a pincer-like tool with opposed pivoted jaws, a vise to grip the spindle of an ear ornament on one jaw, and to hold it in a position to pierce an ear lobe adjacent the other jaw, and a block on the opposite jaw to re ceive the spindle after it has pierced the lobe.

2. An implement for piercing ear lobes which com prises a pincer-like tool with opposed pivoted jaws, a vise to grip the spindle of an ear ornament on one jaw, and a block on the opposite jaw to receive the spindle after i atenied July 9, 1957- it has pierced the lobe, and means on the implement remote from the jaws for opening and closing said vise.

3. An implement for piercing ear lobes which comprises a pincer-like tool with opposed pivoted jaws, a vise to grip the spindle of an ear ornament on one jaw, and a block on the opposite jaw to receive the spindle after it has pierced the lobe, said block being of soft material and said opposite jaw having tines to impale the block for supporting it.

4. An implement for piercing ear lobes which comprises crossed pivoted members forming two jaws and two handles for closing the jaws, a vise on one jaw to hold a pointed spindle of a jewelled ear ornament in position for advancement toward the other jaw when the jaws are closed without contacting the jewelled portion of the ornament and means to adjust the vise to cause it to grip the spindle firmly.

1 5. An implement for piercing ear lobes which comprises crossed pivoted members forming two jaws and two handles for closing the jaws, and a vise on one jaw 20 to hold a pointed spindle of an ear ornament in position for advancement toward the other jaw when the jaws are '4 closed, means to open and close the vise, and an actuator therefore disposed between the handles.

6. An implement for piercing ear lobes which comprises crossed pivoted members forming two jaws and two handles for closing the jaws, and a vise on one jaw to hold a pointed spindle of an ear ornament in position for advancement toward the other jaw when the jaws are closed, means to open and close the vise, an actuator therefore disposed between the handles and a block of soft material supported on 'said other jaw to receive the pointed end of the spindle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 229,581 Boning July 6, 1880 256,416 Ward April 1882 292,437 Koehler and Vogel Jan. 22, 1884 FOREIGN PATENTS 626,062 France May 2, 1927 

